7 Things That Happened While We Were Obsessing Over Padmaavat

The drama over Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Padmaavat is in full swing. Now Rajput women have dropped the idea of jauhar (they are petitioning the PM to ‘allow’ them to commit mass suicide instead) and Karni Sena is still on their vandalism spree. Spectators to this utterly futile theatrics, we are thinking about all the things that happened in the past few weeks that we should have focused on instead.

Republic Day is days away and while it has been fun to see how ‘touchy’ (read irrational) people can be, let’s bring news back to the table. As actress Renuka Shahane pointed out on Facebook, there are other things we can ban instead of a movie that’s basically inconsequential to this country and her future.

Does the nation want to know these? Let’s find out.

10 Rapes in Haryana in 10 Days

Dear Karni Sena, why don’t you use your sticks and guns to secure our streets and cities? That would be more helpful. Thank you very much.

In the most recent incident that was reported on Monday, a woman was pulled out of a car and raped while her husband and relative were thrashed. This after a 15-year-old was killed and a 3-year-old was sexually assaulted. Is safety of women in our country more important than a movie? I sure hope so.

Supreme Court Judges Rebelled

In a first, four Supreme Court judges raised their concerns about how the judiciary system is functioning and the cases are being allotted. They held a press conference and admitted that the Supreme Court was not free, landing a big blow to the Chief Justice of India.

Why this is important, you ask? The judiciary system needs to work independently and the Supreme Court is the highest house of justice in the country. To find out that it has been under the government’s influence isn’t reassuring.

Haj Subsidy Was Revoked

Instead of appeasing the minorities, Govt. believes in empowering them and works for their welfare. The decision of withdrawing #Hajj subsidy is a part of Govt's policy to redirect funds for providing quality educational facilities to girls & women of the community. pic.twitter.com/MopZfgnG79

In 2012, the court had ordered the government to phase out the Haj subsidy over the next decade and the government complied with the order this month. Union Minister of Minority Affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi told a leading newspaper that the money saved (around Rs 450 crores per year) would be used for the education of girls. Former bureaucrat Afzal Amanullah has suggested that women be allowed to go on Haj without a male escort.

State and centre spend crores every year on religious festivals and events and maybe it’s time to cut down on that, too.

Union Minister Disregarded Evolution

What comes as an international embarrassment, the Minister of State for Human Resource Development Satyapal Singh — the man in charge of the education system, no less — has refuted Darwin’s theory of evolution because, and we quote, “our ancestors never saw an ape turn into a man.” And get this, he wants to remove it from the school curriculum.

More than 3,000 international leaders and world CEOs have arrived in the Swiss town of Davos for five days. Prime Minister Modi’s speech has been making news and Shah Rukh Khan just received an award, too. Just ahead of the WEF, an inequality report shared some staggering statistics, revealing that 82 per cent of the global wealth is in the hands of the richest. Also on the agenda this year are the global economy, weapons of mass destruction, and climate challenges. This is critical stuff.

Delhi’s Bawana Fire Killed 17

In a factory in Delhi, 17 workers died after a fire broke out at 6 pm. The workers, all migrants, were doing overtime at the illegal firecracker factory and the casualties included 10 women.

Remember how angry we got with the Kamala Mill fire in Mumbai? Well, it’s time to work up that indignation again because labour laws and safety regulations were blatantly ignored here.

Aadhaar Card Identity Theft

For Rs 500, the reporters of a newspaper purchased the details of a billion Aadhaar card users. The security breach is frightening, though it was all claimed to be false by the authorities. The jury is still out (pun intended).

Well, now you’re caught up, mostly. But as the release date gets closer, you might need to pull yourself out of this controversy and give more screen time to news that's more worthwhile. #JustSaying